Les satyres et Pan : autour de la sexualité, du mariage et du théâtre

Joining human and animal anatomical features, satyrs as well as the god Pan are in a marginal position. This marginality reveals itself through a kind of sexuality which is clearly out of the human norm, as defined by the institution of marriage. Nevertheless both a satyr play by Aeschylus and a comedy by Menander suggest that satyrs and Pan can play a determining part in the establishment of a marriage. Finally I emphasize the shifts in the representation of marriage from the fifth-century satyr play to the fourth-century new comedy.